Photos: ‘Game of Thrones’ panel at Comic-Con July 22, 2011

Cast and writers of HBO's "Game of Thrones" (George R.R. Martin is at end) > Photo by Michelle Moreland

Wow — I actually got into this panel for a blog post for my news media company, The San Diego Union-Tribune. Almost didn’t make it in — had to sneak in through an exit at the last minute. The news media has to wait in line like everyone else at The Con — as it should be! (Read about how long the line was for this HERE.) And check out the coverage at my company’s website HERE! Also, check out the slideshow at the end. Thanks to Michelle Moreland of Georgia for the photos!

To get a seat at the HBO “Game of Thrones” panel you had to wait in what fans were dubbing “the epic line.” For those lucky enough to make it in, here’s what we heard from the cast and writers, which included author George R.R. Martin, who moderated the one-hour discussion. (And yes — they talked about Season No. 2 …)

Jason Momoa (Khal Drogo): He kind of stole the show. Momoa walked onto the stage with dark shades but when he whipped them off, his eyes were made up with that deeply charcoaled makeup of the Khal. (The audience went nuts.) When asked who would win a battle between Conan (who he once played) and Drogo, he quickly said “Drogo would kick Conan’s ass.” He loved learning the language of the Dokthraki, which he said at first sounded like a cross between “Jabba the Hutt and Foozie Bear.” (If fans are lucky, on the DVD release of the show, they’ll get to see the “dance” he performed in his audition that the producers said got him the part of Drogo.)

Lena Headey (Cersei Lannister) on playing the rather evil Queen: “It’s fine playing a character who isn’t trying to be morally good. But people do come up to me and say ‘I hate you!'”

Peter Dinklage (Tyrion Lannister): Dinklage was rather sedate. Someone in the audience says that’s just how he is. His favorite part of the first season? “I loved the White Walker stuff.” (OK — he did say he had the most fun filming the scene when he was on trial because they used a lot of extras and he felt like he got to be master of ceremonies for the cast and crew during the lulls between shooting.)

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime Lannister): His favorite scene is at the end of Season No. 1 with Ned Stark’s widow, Catelyn (where he sort of propositions her in a nasty way and she whacks him on the head with a rock). He says he was horrified when he read his part in the story when he pushes little Bran out the tower window. “You’re going to a very deep dark place and all” with a scene like that, he said.

Kit Harington (Jon Snow): He describes his character as a “bad ass with a sword. He’s a mysterious guy. I loved him the minute I saw him on paper.” Harington says that people kind of recognize him now in public, most recently at Costa Coffee. “They get a kind of puzzled look” at first before they realize he is Jon Snow in the series, he says.

Emilia Clarke (Daenerys Targaryen): Says she hadn’t read “A Game of Thrones” until after her first audition and then she tore through it, falling in love with the character of Dany. She says she has notes and dogged-eared pages in that book. She wants to keep in character and is reading the books as the HBO series progresses, so she’s just reading the next book — “A Clash of Kings” Her favorite scene so far? “The final scene (in season No. 1) where I see my (dragon) babies.” When she first saw it on the screen, “just the sound of them” made her shiver.

Author George R.R. Martin: Says he is concerned about how the entire series will end. He’s juggling a lot of balls and he hopes he “can bring it all together as magnificently as I can see it in my head.” He added that “he’s a fan of bittersweet endings,” which brought a little bit of a good-natured groan from the audience. He will write the Battle of the Blackwater, a huge army/navy clash that takes up several chapters in the second book, “A Clash of Kings.” (He hinted it could be expensive and was taking donations.) Read our previous interview with GRRM HERE.

Producers and writers David Benioff and D.B. Weiss: They plan to stick closely to “A Clash of Kings” in season No. 2 of the HBO series, so anyone who has read the books shouldn’t be surprised, they said. Viewers will get to meet the red priestess and will see more of the dragons and dire wolves. They hope they can snag a season No. 3, and that’s where they aren’t sure how things will play out, said Benioff. Book No. 3 in the series — “A Storm of Swords” is very long, so they aren’t sure how they will break things up. Benioff says they just want to get to the “RW” scene, which Martin says was the toughest he’s had to write. (For those who have read the books, we know what the “RW” scene is, but if you haven’t, the panel didn’t want to spoil it for you so we won’t either.)

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I’m so jealous. You lucky lucky girl. I love this show so much. This is the best show on TV in my opinion. I still love True Blood, but Game of Thrones is my new favorite. I love Tyrion Lannister. Peter Drinklage should win an Emmy for his outstanding performance. Jon Snow is my second favorite. I just bought the books and can’t wait to read them while waiting for Season 2.

Me too, ditto Krissy. Except I haven’t read the books; I need to get on that. Diana I am so envious!!!! Never thought I’d be one of those celeb hounds until HBO turned me into a junior high school screamer.

Yes — altho he totally stole the show …. that panel was goofy and weird. I mean — it was fun and GRRM was cool. But the stars — well — Emilia Clarke was sweet & had a lot to say. But some didn’t. Some also were shy. We’ll see how they do next year. Wish I could’ve gotten into True Blood panel …..

I still haven’t seen this series, as I don’t have cable. Maybe it will show up on Netflix sometime. I hope so, I love Sean Bean, Peter Dinklage and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau. I really liked his short-lived tv series New Amsterdam, and was sorry that Fox didn’t give it more of a chance to find an audience. Glad this one is doing better.